ORDER :

Prayer: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for issuance of Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to divide the lands in the name of Kalaimagal Sabha on the basis of its registration value or market value and allot the same in favour of the members of Petitioner Association on the basis of the amount invested by them in Kalaimagal Sabha.

1. The genesis of the batch of writ petitions on hand emanated from a registered Society “Kalaimagal Sabha” and pursuant to the directions issued by this Court in W.P. No. 514 of 1999 dated 30.03.1999. The untold agony of 5,33,356 members of the said Kalaimagal Sabha resulted in institution of litigations and unfortunately even after lapse of 22 years, these poor investors, who deposited their hard earned money are unable to get back money and still legal battle is on and on.

2. Let us not go back and conduct post mortem in respect of the black areas with reference to the actions, inactions, omissions, commissions made by the parties and court receivers. The endeavour of this Court at this length of time is to adopt a practical and pragmatic approach and to ensure that the untold agony of these 5,33,356 members are redressed to the extent possible and in the manner known to law.

3. The ‘Kalaimagal Sabha’ was registered and commenced its activities with a laudable object of collecting deposits and returning the same along with interest by conducting certain real estate business activities. Huge amount of money was collected from these 5,33,356 members. The money collected were invested in purchase of immovable properties not only across the State of Tamil Nadu but also outside the State of Tamil Nadu, more specifically in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Kerala.

4. The Society, namely, Kalaimagal Sabha committed certain irregularities and mismanagement in dealing with the funds of the Society. Thus, complaints were filed by the members and the Government of Tamil Nadu proposed to appoint a Special Officer to manage the affairs of the Society as the complaints received were found to be serious and the financial implications are wider.

5. At that point of time, one Mr. M. Krishnamoorthy filed a writ petition in W.P. No. 514 of 1999 claiming that he is a member of the Society, Kalaimagal Sabha and sought to quash the notice issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu for appointment of Special Officer and to direct the first respondent for appointment of Retired High Court Judge as the custodian to take control of funds and assets of the Society intended for the benefit of the members and to distribute the same either in the shape of funds or property or both to the members of the Society to prove their entitlement.

6. This Court considered the issues and Thiru. N. Meenakshi Sundaram, Advocate [Retired District Judge] Chennai, Thiru. S. Navaneethakrishnan, Advocate, Chennai and the Special Officer appointed to the Society were appointed as Joint Receivers to take charge of the properties so purchased by the Kalaimagal Sabha, a registered Society as well as the funds available and the entire accounts and to take care of the affairs of the Society for the purpose of distributing the outcome of the properties purchased for the benefit of its members from the sale proceeds of the same and the funds available in the Society for that purpose.

7. The procedures were also formulated for the purpose of functioning of these Joint Receivers. The procedures formulated would reveal that the Joint Receivers are directed to sell the properties on the basis of the time bound program, either by public auction or calling for tenders. The Joint Receivers should get prior approval from this Court before even confirming any such offer. A specific direction was issued to the Special Officer to render full co-operation with his team of officers for the other Joint Receivers in working out the above scheme.

8. This Court in the year 1999 while passing orders in the said writ petition